corsairman wrote:
I've taken some time and have read the wiki page and have watched many YouTube videos on this aircraft. It sounds horrible! Have we/did we/are we building such an unmitigated disaster of an airplane? A few examples of performance that I recall: 1) requires 43 seconds longer to accelerate from mach .8 to mach 1.2 than an F-16? 2) has a top speed of mach 1.6 on near 50,000 lbs of thrust? 3) that the Chinese hacked Lockheed's computers and stole a lot of code, in a code dependent aircraft, plus possibly pilfered some inflight telemetry during testing? 4) LO stealth is only in a very restricted range from the frontal aspect. That when it turns tail to "try" to run home it's goose is cooked? 5) and on, and on, and on...? 5) and lets not even talk about the stupid crazy unit cost/program cost overruns.
Is this the truth? Is there good news out there that I'm not privy to? They (Lockheed/the Air Force) intimate that the analyst naysayers aren't aware of certain "top secret" design features and weapons when they analyze and war game the airplane - that we need to "trust" that they aren't building a turkey that "can't shoot, can't turn and can't run".
I am having a hard time believing that we are so incompetent, but I might have to put my big boy pants on and accept that we can do something that FUBAR.
Are there any out there with the straight gouge on this bird?
The big compromise was including STOVL for the Marines. That drove a big fuselage and other issues. A bad decision, IMO.
That said, with stand-off weapons (AMRAAM) and A2G standoff stuff, front aspect stealth is the primary consideration. You get relatively close using stealth, fire, then extend out of range before you're targeted. A retreating M1 target 10 or 20 miles away is a tough solution for most A2A or G2A weapons. The platform isn't designed for an up-close and personal mission in A2A or A2G.
This is the set of compromises we are buying. If you (we) are OK fighting a stand-off war, the F-35 is a fine, but expensive, choice. If it turns into a close quarters battle, there are quite a few platforms out there with better dynamic performance, but without much, if any, stealth.
The end-all, be-all (F-22 or equivalent) costs more...